Juxtaposition
by Saphrea
Summary: Haruno Sakura spent the last two years spying on the wizarding world for the Hokage. But after her second year, she may not be going back to her life as Hermione Granger. Instead, she's placed on team 7 and starts a new adventure over the summer holidays.
1. Arriving Home

Note: There are some continuity issues that I want to address before anyone asks. Sakura/Hermione's birthday is 28th of March, and I'm changing the Hogwarts rules so that a student enters school during the school year they turn 11, so Sakura has just turned 12 and finished her second year of school. Her personality is also more Hermione-ish because Hermione is at Hogwarts before Sakura meets her team. In Naruto, the graduation takes place in October, but I'm changing the time line around to fit better, so now the graduation is at the beginning of June. Also, in Harry Potter, spells travel maybe ~10 feet per second, which is slow enough to dodge or counterattack, but that would be useless against a ninja, so for the sake of this story, spells travel at the speed of light. The only time delay is the length of time it takes to actually say the spell. If they're not out of the way by the time it fires, even a ninja can't dodge. That is all for now. Please enjoy.

...

Despite being well aware of the basilisk's presence as it stalked me through the hall, I was still mildly shocked to wake up in the hospital wing several weeks later by Madam Pomfrey. I could still taste the mandrake drought so it didn't take me long to deduce that I'd been attacked while trying to sneak through the school. My barrage of questions about everything that had happened when I was asleep was met with a hasty summary of what had transpired over the past few hours. After taking a long moment to absorb it all, I took a deep steadying breath and grinned. Everyone was alive. Ginny had been taken but was safe now. Harry and Ron were heroes again.

The fact that the page describing the basilisk was no longer in my hand told me that they had come to see me while I was unconscious and that my final act before being petrified had been useful, even if I couldn't deliver the information personally.

I rushed down to the great hall, where the whole school was having a midnight celebration, and I didn't even worry about wearing the loose hospital gown, as everyone else was in their nightclothes anyway. I yelled out "You solved it! You solved it!" at them, and watched with pride as they grinned back at me with twin expressions of exhilaration and relief. Their explanation was much more detailed, and I listened with rapt attention, at least until Professor McGonagall came in and announced that the end of year exams had been canceled.

"Oh, no," I said. I had been counting on those exams to show everyone at home how well I'd done this year. But, then again, I'd spent over two months this year in the hospital wing between the fiasco with the polyjuice potion and being attacked by a giant snake, so I supposed I shouldn't complain too much.

"Only you, Hermione," Ron laughed, but I was still so happy that I could only grin back and laugh too.

During the last few weeks of school, I made sure to study up on everything I'd missed and to cram in as many new spells as possible before the train arrived to take us all home. I spent the last few hours with my friends playing around with the sort of carefree abandon that we hadn't seen since the first attack, and then it was time to say goodbye. Harry gave us his telephone number, and I hugged them both one last time. I would have to make up an excuse later for not being able to call him. I'd told them both I would be spending all summer in France to discourage them from inviting me over and explaining any delays in my answering their mail. But I could worry about formulating more excuses after I'd sorted out everything else.

"Your aunt and uncle will be proud though, won't they?" I asked Harry, wishing my part in the adventure had been a bit more substantial. "When they hear what you did this year?"

"Proud?" said Harry. "Are you crazy? All those times I could've died, and I didn't manage it? They'll be furious..."

I couldn't tell whether or not he was joking, but I couldn't bring myself to spoil his cheerful mood by asking about it. Instead, I linked my arm with his and Ron's, and we walked together into the muggle's Kings Cross.

And then, they were gone, Harry with the Dursleys, and Ron with his family. I walked over to stand beside a nearby pillar and waited. Hogwarts students filed past, and I waved at a few familiar faces. But soon they were all gone, and the muggles were not paying me any attention. It hadn't even been ten minutes, and I was starting to miss my friends already. Instead of moping, I scanned the platform for any telltale sign that someone was there who shouldn't be. I was unsurprised to find a brown haired, middle-aged, utterly ordinary looking man walk casually toward me.

"Haruno Sakura," the disguised ANBU said with a lighthearted smile. "I'm here to escort you back to Konoha."

…

As always, the trip back wasn't fun. Summoning jutsus rarely were. After a whirlwind of chakra and the sensation of being hurtled across vast stretches of space, I found myself standing unsteadily in the Hokage's office with my trunk and only a slight queasiness to worry about. The ANBU reached out a hand to brace me as I nearly fell backward. I glanced over at him to see that his hair had turned blue, and his face was now covered with a bear mask.

"Haruno Sakura," said the Hokage. "Have you prepared your mission report?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," I said.

From my jacket, I pulled out the mission scroll and laid it on the Hokage's desk. He took it with a cursory glance.

"What is the status of your current mission?" he asked.

I fidgeted slightly before stilling my hands with an effort.

"There were some complications this year," I said. My face began to heat slightly as I recounted the events of my second year at Hogwarts with all the professionalism I could muster. I stumbled a bit over turning myself into a furry cat-girl, but the Hokage didn't say anything. I moved on rather quickly. He did frown deeply when I explained about being attacked by the basilisk, but he waited until the end before speaking.

"It seems that the risk factors associated with this mission are greater than I initially believed," the Hokage said gravely. "This was supposed to be an extended D rank mission, but it has been clearly elevated to at least a C rank, and it may no longer be appropriate for someone of your skill level."

That was a blow to my pride, and I flinched, looking down. I wanted to object, to say that I'd helped, and that everything had worked out alright in the end, but the recent summary of events was still more embarrassing than praise-worthy. Some Konoha ninja I was turning out to be.

"Hokage-sama," I said, but I stopped and tried to think of a way to turn this around. "Hokage-sama, I was chosen for this mission because I was noted as having this ability...because I am a witch, and witches and wizards are not born in ninja villages very often. Most ninja haven't been very successful in infiltrating wizard society simply because the portal that separates our worlds can only be bypassed by a witch or wizard or someone with magical blood. But even recessive magical genes are rare." I glanced over at the Bear ANBU. "And even if we're not at war with the wizards, I...we need as much information on them as we can get because they can freely enter our world even while we have difficulty entering theirs." _Stop babbling, _I chided myself. _He already knows that, and you know that he knows that._ "I believe that I can complete this mission. The threat from the Heir of Slytherin is over."

"The threat from Voldemort was 'over' at the end of last year as well," said someone behind me. I turned to see the counselor Koharu standing by the door. I hadn't heard her come in. Great, I was just showcasing all of my amazing abilities today, wasn't I?

The Hokage puffed on his pipe as I tried to think up a suitable response.

"I can still gather more information," I said. "There are no _current _threats..."

"No one is doubting your loyalty or your desire to perform," said the Hokage. "But there remains the fact that you do not have the necessary combat skills required to complete the mission. Even if this situation has been dealt with, there is no guarantee that something similar will not arise in the future. And while the spells that you returned with after your first year were somewhat useful, they are not in the realm of something I would risk the life of one of my Genin for."

I felt the last vestiges of my pride deflating like a punctured balloon. So, not only had I risked my life and stumbled my way through another year of secretly learning magic in a far-off country, but the Hokage didn't even consider it worth the effort to due so. I contemplated bowing my head then and meekly requesting to be withdrawn from the mission I'd just dedicated the last two years of my life to, but a loud _HELL NO _from my usually quieter inner self gave me a chance to voice my last hope at salvaging this situation.

"There is a reason why I want to return for at least one more year," I said, and I forced myself to meet the Hokage's eyes. "Because of my exemplary performance in all of my classes and my desire to take a heavier workload, one of my senseis told me about a special program they have at Hogwarts. If I am accepted, I will be given a magical object called a Time Turner. The Time Turner has the ability to send the user several hours into the past."

I paused to given them a chance to absorb this information. True time ninjutsu supposedly existed at one point, but the knowledge had long since been forgotten and no one had been even remotely successful at recovering the lost art. The chance to study something that could go backwards through time, even if it was a magical object rather than a chakra laden one, would be something even the Hokage could not pass up on.

I watched as the Hokage stilled and gave me a very intense stare. He knew what I was thinking, and I hoped he thought I was right.

"You're sure?" Koharu asked sharply. "You believe that you will gain access to this object long enough to bring it to us to study?"

"I will find out later this summer when I receive word from my sensei," I said carefully. "If this is something you would be willing to consider," and I dearly hoped it was, "then I ask that you wait until the owl arrives to let me know either way. Until then, I request to be placed with a Genin team under a Jonin instructor, so that I can increase my skill as a ninja."

The last bit came out a little faster than I had intended. I wasn't sure if I was asking for a favor or not, but all things considered, I didn't think it was too much of a long shot.

"So, you want to buy some time to increase your abilities by dangling a valuable object under our noses," said Koharu, shaking her head. "Your attempts at bribery and persuasion are woefully transparent for a kunoichi."

"I'm sure a Jonin instructor would be able to help me with that too," I said before I could think better of it.

Koharu's eyes hardened, but the Hokage chuckled.

"I will concede that a rash decision could cost us valuable knowledge that we could greatly benefit from," he said. "And you are correct about needing training. I have asked you to postpone your training for the sake of this mission, and I believe it would be reasonable to place you with an instructor while you are here. I will reserve my decision until you receive your notification."

My heart swelled, and my bruised ego lifted a bit.

"The graduation for the Ninja Academy was yesterday, and I believe we have an uneven number," he said.

"Normally, we place more experienced Genin whose team members have become Chunin into these groups, but I will see to it that you are given priority. Report to the Academy tomorrow at 7:00 am to receive further instructions. Also, after reviewing your coursework, I will have you return to demonstrate your new abilities under a diagnostic jutsu for our research. Dismissed."

I bowed and left, trailing my trunk behind me.

As I walked down the hall, I realized that while it hadn't gone quite the way I'd hoped, it was still better than nothing. I reached into my pocket and felt the familiar ridges of my wand. I knew it wasn't an awesome ninja blood-limit. It wasn't even terribly useful yet, but it was still mine, my talent. My magic and my quick mind had helped me graduate from the Academy two years early even though I still had pretty low level taijutsu, very few ninjutsu, and no genjutsu to speak of. I suddenly felt a twinge of worry. What about my new teammates? What about my new sensei? What would their skill levels be? And what would they think of mine? Somehow I doubted they would be very impressed by my wand waving. Maybe if I got one of them with my petrificus totalus...

I squashed the worry and lifted by chin up. No, I wasn't going to doubt myself. Everything would be fine. I'd survived trolls, a giant three headed dog, devils snare, and a basilisk. I am Haruno Sakura and Hermione Granger. I didn't have anything to worry about.

And with that thought, I marched back to my home to see my parents and prepare for the next day. I had a lot of work to do.

…


	2. Team 7

...

When I was young, there were many things about my own appearance that I didn't like. My big forehead and bubble gum pink hair were two of them. I was teased so often that I developed self-esteem and confidence issues that lasted for years. So when the ANBU infiltrator told me two years ago that I would be given a transformation jutsu to disguise myself while at Hogwarts, I was nearly giddy with happiness.

That lasted until she went on to say that in terms of appearance, plain forgettable features were good and that just slightly ugly features were the best because no one wanted to look at the person or remember them too well.

I wasn't sure if she was being serious or just punishing me for some unknown wrong I had committed, but my ten year old self swallowed my disappointment. After all, I'd just been given a special mission by the Hokage himself! And even if it was technically a D rank mission, it could still potentially be important to the whole village. And so I bowed my head as the ANBU worked to make me into the perfectly forgettable witch I was supposed to be.

The good thing was that my pink hair and bright green eyes were gone. The bad thing was that they were now a dull sort of brown and my hair was so frizzy that it looked like a windblown birds-nest. Another good thing was that my forehead was of a completely normal size and hidden by a thick set of bangs. The bad thing was that now I was sporting a pair of huge front teeth that stuck out to mock me if I tried to smile.

No matter how important the mission was, I still cried a bit then. The ANBU told me gruffly to calm down while she patted my shoulder. Thinking back, she probably took pity on my then because the rest of my appearance was normal and mostly untouched.

Now, as I sat back down on my bed and deactivated the transformation jutsu for the first time in over nine months, I watched in the mirror as Hermione's face disappeared in a puff of smoke and my natural appearance returned. I decided right then and there that a big forehead and a weird hair color were not nearly as bad as I'd thought two years ago. I grinned at my reflection, marveling for a second at the straight white teeth that gleamed back at me.

Oh yes, forehead and hair have nothing on looking like a beaver.

…

It felt strange to be back in my normal body and without my wizards robes. I also felt slightly lopsided with the weight of my shuriken pouches on my thigh and hip again. My forehead protector was also tied around my hair so that my large forehead was displayed for everyone to see. It didn't make me as self-conscious as I might have been otherwise because after living with my other appearance I'd more or less come to terms with my real body. That and I didn't want to show any persistent shame. I was a ninja, and I had to put personal appearance issues aside. So I walked down the hallway to the classroom with my weapons, my sandals, and my forehead protector clearly displaying who and what I really was.

I still arrived feeling nervous. I hadn't exactly been the been the most talented person in class two years ago, and everyone else had had two years to train while I'd only had a review course last summer. I made a promise right to myself that I wouldn't rest until I was back up to speed. Being petrified for two months hadn't done me any favors, but at least my muscles hadn't atrophied.

My wand was also in a secure holster on my thigh. I didn't have much practical experience fighting with it, but I had a feeling I'd need every advantage I could get.

Head held high, I walked straight into the classroom and looked around to see everyone lounging around, laughing, and talking. I relaxed minutely. At least they hadn't all become serious and skilled ninja while I was away. I scanned room for anyone that looked familiar. I recognized a few people, like Ino, who I hadn't seen since last summer. I would have sat with her, but all of the chairs at her desk were taken. There were a few other vaguely familiar faces whose names I couldn't quite remember but I'd never had many real friends at the Academy, so I wasn't even sure who I was looking for.

Just as I resigned myself to sitting alone in the back, my eye caught sight of familiar spiky black hair. Sure enough, Uchiha Sasuke was sitting in the far corner with his fingers laced together and a brooding expression on his face.

My heart did a small leap, and I felt a flush creep into my cheeks. Oh, I remembered him, and I remembered my crush on him, and I remembered how I'd asked him out several times. He was the dark, brooding hero that caught my imagination and made me feel all gooey inside. Even after graduating, I had tried to keep my obsessive admiration focused solely on him, but a year of seeing neither hide nor had hair of him brought my attentions elsewhere.

They had shifted to the illustrious Gilderoy Lockheart who was exactly the opposite of Sasuke. At the time, Lockheart had seemed like the perfect replacement. He was warm and friendly and golden. Not to mention he was supposed to be brave and powerful, and he didn't mind smiling at his many admirers. It was nice to be smiled at. He'd even complimented me, called me clever. In his books, he'd done so many amazing things, and, most importantly, he wasn't halfway across the planet.

I had been almost as thrilled when I learned that Lockheart would be my teacher as I was when I realized I would be in the same class as Sasuke.

Oh yes, I had been bitten by the fangirl bug yet again. I liked to think that I was older and wiser with this crush. At least I didn't stalk him or ask him on a date, but that was a poor consolation when I found out who he really was.

One thing I'd learned from the whole Lockheart debacle, it was that adoration was just about the farthest you could get from understanding. I didn't understand until it was too late that Lockheart was a fraud, and he had tried to erase the memories of my two best friends.

With that sobering thought, I decided that maybe I shouldn't be so quick to acknowledge any lingering fangirlish feelings I might still have had. Sasuke hadn't given me anything but rejection, and Lockheart…well, I didn't really need to think about him anymore.

Right now I was Haruno Sakura, known for my intelligence, and I wasn't about to make the same mistake twice no matter how good looking the boy in question might be. Besides, unless we ended up on a team together, we probably wouldn't even be seeing much of each other anyway. There was no need to have a crush on someone who I probably wouldn't be seeing much of anymore.

Right?

_Right._

I realized that I'd been staring at him for a long minute now, and I shook my head before walking over. There weren't a whole lot of empty seats, and the spot next to Sasuke was open. As I approached, I realized suddenly that he looked remarkably similar to Harry. He had the same untidy black hair. It even stuck up at the back, just like Harry's did.

I blinked.

No, there might have been something similar in the face and hair, but Sasuke's cold black eyes were so different from the bright bottle green of The-Boy-Who-Lived. And the way he held himself so stiff and closed off was different from the other's slouched, relaxed stance. Minor similarities aside, they really were very different people.

"Hey, will you let me through?" I asked, and the two boys blocking my way let me squeeze past.

I was not so unaware that I could miss the glares from some of the other girls. Oh right, I wasn't the only one who'd had a crush on him. Well, it was too late to move now.

I leaned back just in time to see an orange-blue blur land on the desk in front of Sasuke. I realized a moment later that it was someone else I'd recognized. Thinking back, I recalled that his name was Naruto, the class clown and village pariah. And he was glaring lightning bolts at Sasuke.

"Move," the last Uchiha growled.

There was a chorus of "Kick his ass Sasuke-kun" from the girls around the room. But before any ass-kicking could occur, an unfortunate bump from the boy in front resulted in the two of them pushed into a shocked lip lock. And then they broke apart, spitting and gagging as though they'd both swallowed troll warts.

I tried not to crack a smile too obviously, but I also didn't interfere when Sasuke's fangirls started beating up Naruto. He should probably learn not to pick fights with the other Genin.

Iruka arrived soon after and gave us his introductory speech on being fresh new Genin. I felt another wave of excitement as he began announcing the three man teams. My breath hitched when my name was called, followed by Naruto and Sasuke. Naruto's outburst about being put on Sasuke's team and Iruka's response made me pause.

Three man teams made to balance out. Sasuke was the best. Naruto was the worst. And me? Apart from my intellect and magic, I was about as average as they came. Yeah, but at least I wasn't put on a team with two amazing ninja I'd never be able to work with. It was okay as long as I wasn't the team weakling. As long as I was better than Naruto, I could get by.

_Hell no! I will not be left behind on my own team! _My inner self contributed.

We separated for an uneventful lunch only to come back to the classroom to wait.

And wait.

And wait.

The other students all filtered out with their respective senseis when they arrived, but for whatever reason, ours had yet to appear. Naruto got bored and started fidgeting and then pacing. Finally, after almost two hours, he slid the door open a bit and wedged an eraser into the crack so that it would fall on the head of any unwary entrant.

He laughed, bouncing back to the desks with a devilish grin. I felt a sudden wave of deja vu. It was so reminiscent of something the Weasley twins would have done that I could only stare. The smile, the awkward happiness, and the disregard for rules reminded me so strongly of Ron and his brothers that I had to open and close my mouth twice before I could respond.

"When you get in trouble for pulling a prank, I'm telling him I'm not involved," I said. "And you can back me up."

"Oh Sakura-chan, you know you're just jealous because you didn't think of it first," he grinned.

"Say that again when you've got detention or whatever punishment our sensei decides to give," I said. "You'll be sorry then."

"Feh, like I care," said Naruto. "I get punished all the time, it's no big deal."

No, I corrected myself, Naruto was nothing like Ron. Ron was tall and kind of quiet, and he wasn't that reckless. I also thought I detected a note of bitterness in Naruto's voice. It made me wonder why he always played pranks if he knew he would be punished. He obviously didn't like being punished, but they weren't acting as a detriment either. Maybe there was a reason he was acting out. I shook my head and decided to think about it more later.

I was lonely, I realized. I was starting to see my school friends because I missed them. It made me wonder if Ron had tried to call Harry yet, and if I should write him a letter. Maybe if the Hokage let me go back to school, I could convince him to let me buy an owl. Even if it wasn't included in the mission funds, I had plenty of my own mission pay from the past two years. I could afford to buy something for myself.

"Pft, like a Jonin is going to fall for such a simple booby trap," Sasuke scoffed, speaking for the first time.

I was going to admit that he had a point, but the words were barely out of his mouth when what had to be our new instructor arrived through the door only to be greeted by a falling eraser and a poof of chalk dust. My agreement died in my throat as Naruto pointed and laughed.

_That's him? That's my new Jonin instructor? What the hell?_

A sudden feeling of dread washed over me. Oh no. Naruto was the worst student in the class. I was depressingly mediocre. Sasuke wasn't, but maybe Sasuke had a horrible fault that I didn't know about and we were all stuck in some sort of remedial ninja team or something.

My inner self was already angrily writing a new banner 'Team 7: The Incompetent Ninjas.'

_Please, please, please be here to tell us that our instructor died on the way here and that we'll get a new one tomorrow or something. Don't be our sensei. Don't be our sensei._

"Hmm, how can I say this?" the Jonin said with a happy one-eyed smile, as the rest of his face was covered by a mask and lopsided forehead protector. "I don't like you guys!"

_Crap…._

I wanted to retort that I didn't like him much either, but I still wanted to make a good impression, so I kept quiet. Beggars can't be choosers, and I knew I should be glad to have any instructor at all. I could very well have been doing solo drills until next year.

He led us off to the roof of another building, and we all introduced ourselves. Kakashi, as he was called, predictably told us nothing. But I found out that Naruto was ramen obsessed and wanted to surpass the Hokage and that Sasuke was about as far from Harry-like as it was possible to be. When it was my turn, I didn't say too much about myself. I liked studying and learning, and I disliked people or things that wanted to hurt my friends. My dream was to develop my skills into something useful.

I left it at that. Maybe I'd give them a demonstration later. I wondered nervously what sort of spells might impress them.

When Kakashi, started telling us about survival training, I knew I would get the perfect chance. The 66% failure rate was more than a little alarming, but I'd already decided that I would find a way to make it through, even if I had to stay up all night studying. If I failed, and I didn't even want to entertain the thought, but if I failed, the Hokage would definitely take it as a sign that I was too weak to continue my mission. I would not only be sent back to the Academy I'd left behind two years ago, but I would never get to see Harry or Ron again either. And my magic, the only thing that could really set me apart from being an average nobody, would just be a few petty tricks that could entertain civilians.

I perused the sheet of paper he had given me with a critical eye, trying not to think about the sort of trouble Harry and Ron would get into if I wasn't there to help. It wouldn't matter, because I would be there to help them as I always was.

_So just wait for me, and I'll come back, _I promised them even if they were too far away to hear.

...

**Note:** So here is a transition chapter with some introspection. While Sakura will initially follow the manga series of events closely, she is already starting to branch off from her cannon character. Hopefully, the explanation for her character growth is believable. I have also removed most of the romantic feelings between team 7 characters, since a two year gap makes them pretty much impossible to maintain realistically, and I have no plans for pairings right now. That might change later. We'll see….


	3. The Bell Test

…

The next day found my teammates and me standing in a rough training ground with no sensei in sight. As the minutes dragged into hours, I realized this was going to be a depressing repeat of yesterday. Sure enough, two and a half hours later, Kakashi-sensei arrived with lazy puff of smoke.

"You're late!" Naruto and I shouted in frustrated tandem.

Kakashi merely smiled with his one visible eye and placed an alarm clock on a convenient stump.

"Ok, it's set for noon," he said, turning to meet our three questioning stares and producing two silver objects from a hidden pocket. "Here are two bells. Your task is to take these from me before noon."

He outlined the rest of the rules, including how we'd be tied to the stumps and sent back to the Academy if we couldn't manage to steal the bells. I swallowed thickly and tried to smother the thrill of nerves.

_Calm down, _my inner self chided. _He fell for Naruto's stupid prank yesterday. He's slow. You might not even need magic._

When he went on to talk about how we should come at him as though to kill, I gasped in surprise.

"But you'll be in danger!" I shouted. I didn't think inflicting pain and suffering on my new sensei was the best way to start things off. Besides, I'd never really hurt anyone before, and I wasn't exactly eager to start now. Naruto agreed with his usual loud obnoxious comments, and Kakashi called him Dead-last.

Before I could do anything, Naruto produced a kunai and prepared to charge, but then, faster than I could see, Kakashi was behind Naruto, holding the kunai at the back of his neck.

"Slow down," he said casually. "I haven't even said start yet."

_Huh, maybe he isn't as lame as I thought._

Okay, so my ninja skills against Kakashi would be about as useful as a rolled up newspaper against Aragog. I would have to use magic then.

Naruto and Sasuke were smiling now, and when Kakahsi shouted "Start!" we all darted away in a gust of wind.

I was hidden in the trees a few seconds later. A full frontal assault against Kakashi was a bad idea. I needed to stand back and watch the fight carefully. One thing I'd learned during first year at Hogwarts was that I didn't think too well in a crisis, so I needed to make my plan first and find an opportunity to use it. For the meantime, I would have to see what Kakashi was like against Naruto and Sasuke.

The test went about as well as I expected for my two teammates. Naruto rushed out and tried to fight head-on only to be humiliated and defeated with ease. I groaned inwardly as he tried multiple frontal attacks with no success. He didn't even bother to try sneakiness or traps. Well, I supposed I shouldn't be too surprised that the class clown wasn't thinking through the situation very well.

Sasuke, on the other hand, was doing the same thing as me. I knew he was clever enough to observe Kakashi as well, and I had to grudgingly admit that Naruto's attacks, while pointless to him, would probably help Sasuke and me against our teacher. Sasuke stayed hidden in the trees waiting for his chance, but when it arrived, he was also thwarted at the last second. That wasn't a good sign. If Sasuke could be defeated with traps and sneakiness, and if Naruto could be defeated with raw power, where did that leave me?

I stayed where I was, watching the other three and reviewing my options.

My practical spell range was about twenty feet. Beyond that, my spells lost power and accuracy enough to become useless. A small severing charm might be enough to cut the bells away, but Kakashi was sure to catch them before I moved close enough. A summoning charm might work, but I'd only read about them in _The Standard Book of Spells Grade Four. _I hadn't actually attempted a spell that advanced yet. Besides, watching him was enough to show me that I'd need to immobilize him before I could even think about taking the bells, so that left me with my old first year fall-back. If I could get him with a petrificus totalus, then it would just be a race between me and the two boys for who got to him first.

I suddenly realized that I'd lost sight of my silver-haired sensei and darted away from my hiding spot. I needed to be near him if I wanted to attack. When I saw him again, I dove behind a nearby bush.

_Good, he didn't see me._

Kakashi's blind side was to me. It was the perfect opening. I carefully whispered "Petrificus totalus!" under my breath, my wand pointed at my sensei from between the leaves.

It had absolutely no effect.

"Sakura, behind you," he said. I turned and was face-to-face with another Kakashi.

_No way, a bushin?_

Of course, a bushin didn't have muscles, so they couldn't be paralyzed.

Kakashi brought his hands together in a seal, and suddenly there was a whirlwind of leaves. I stumbled back, and he was gone.

"Sakura..." a voice said.

_That voice... _I thought. And sure enough, I turned to see Sasuke. And I froze.

It was Sasuke alright.

Sasuke, pierced with a dozen kunai and shuriken. Sasuke, his left arm cleanly severed just below the elbow. Sasuke, his leg bent and twisted at impossible angles. Sasuke, staring up at me through blood-matted untidy bangs.

"Sakura," he gasped again as a trail of red slid down his chin. "Help me..."

I couldn't move.

I couldn't think.

I just stood there for who knows how long, staring down at him as though the whole world had stopped, and it was just the two of us. I tried not to think about how much he looked like someone else I knew.

_I don't know any spells that can fix this, _my inner self said thoughtfully. _Two years at school and not one healing spell to my name._

Tears of fear, panic, horror welled up in my eyes.

I screamed and everything went black.

When I came to some time later, Sasuke was gone. I knew I had to find him, to help him in any way I could. I ran off looking for my fallen teammate, only to find him buried neck deep in the dirt. I managed to stay together long enough to realize that he would need someone to dig him out. He looked unhurt for the most part, and I knew then that Kakashi had caught in a genjutsu.

Wow, that was embarrassing. Two years away from other ninja suddenly felt much longer than I thought. I shouldn't have fallen for that so easily. I was so ashamed that I couldn't even look Sasuke in the eye. At least he had obviously put up a fight before being defeated.

It took a few minutes, but I managed to dig him free. I added some sort of digging spell to the list of things I'd have to learn if I ever got back to Hogwarts. It was somewhere below healing spells and the summoning charm. By now we were running out of time. It seemed hopeless. This wasn't how this test was supposed to go.

"If we want to get the bells, we have to hurry," I said.

Sasuke spared me a glance before nodding and running off. I followed him, knowing he had a better idea about where Kakashi was than I did. But before we could get to him, we both heard the alarm ring.

"Damn, we wasted too much time," Sasuke growled.

It was true, I realized.

We had all failed.

Ten minutes later, we were sitting next to the stump that Naruto was tied to. I stared dejectedly at the ground. I had failed. When had I ever failed at anything? I tried to think back to any time in my past when I'd failed, but the only thing I could think of was trying to get Sasuke to go out with me. As humiliating as that was, it wasn't a test. And what was more important was the cost of this failure. What would happen to Harry and Ron while I was away? Who would be there to prevent them from doing stupid things and getting caught when they broke the rules? Would they find someone else to be their friend and take my place, or would it just be the two of them?

I tried not to let my thoughts turn too dark, but it was hard to think straight. I was in shock. This just couldn't be happening.

"By the way...about the training," Kakashi was saying happily. I tore my attention from my own maudlin thoughts to stare at him. "There's no need for any of you to go back to the Academy."

Wait, what?

_Hell yeah, I knew I couldn't fail here!_

I had heard Kakashi correctly, right? Did that mean we all passed? Hope and excitement welled up and swept away my despair as though it were cobwebs.

"Hey! Hey!" Naruto shouted, looking almost as cheerful as I felt. "Then that means that all three of us...?"

"Yep," said Kakashi, smiling with his one eye. "All three of you...should quit as ninjas!"

If the first statement had taken a second to sink in, this one took several more.

Huh?

_What the hell?_

I opened my mouth to speak, but Naruto beat me to it.

"Quit as ninjas?" he asked. "What the hell does that mean? Okay, we didn't get the bells, but why do we have to quit?"

"Because you're punks who don't deserve to be ninjas," said Kakashi, all of his previous humor gone. His eye was now flat and deadly serious. This was definitely a new side to our sensei, and I felt my hand itch for my wand.

Again, one of my teammates acted before I could. Sasuke attacked Kakashi, but he was defeated even more easily than before.

"That's why you're a punk," Kakashi said evenly as he sat on Sasuke's back. "Are you underestimating me? Why do you think you were put into teams and doing this training?"

"What does that even mean?" I asked. This wasn't making any sense.

"Basically, you guys don't understand the answer to this test," said Kakashi.

"Answer?" Naruto asked.

I had the feeling that this answer wasn't going to be something found in one of the books I'd read. Was it to do with tactics? No, Sasuke had fought intelligently. Enthusiasm? No, Naruto had that in spades. Power? No, we were fresh Genin so he couldn't expect us to be able to beat him.

Then what?

"It's teamwork," he said. "The three of you working together may have gotten the bells."

_Hey, wait a second..._

"There are only two bells," I said. "Even if we worked together, one of us would still fail."

"The test was designed to see if you could set aside your own differences and work together," said Kakashi. "Sakura, you were just using Naruto to gain information about me without doing anything to help him. Naruto, you were just running around on your own. And Sasuke, you just thought they would get in the way and tried to do everything by yourself. Of course, individual strength is important, but what's more important is teamwork. Individual play can disrupt teamwork and put your comrades in danger. For instance," Kakashi pulled out a kunai and held it at Sasuke's throat, "Sakura, kill Naruto or Sasuke dies!"

If I'd learned one thing about Defense teachers, it was that they were immensely dangerous to my black-haired companions. I hadn't been able to help Harry against Quirrell or Lockheart, but Sasuke and Kakashi were both right in front of me.

My wand was in my hand almost before I realized I'd reached for it. I opened my mouth to say a spell, any spell to get Kakashi away, but apparently he knew what would happen because he was suddenly off of Sasuke and standing a few feet away.

"If a hostage is taken, you will have tough choices and then die," he said. "Sakura, it's noble of you to try and save him, but I could have killed him before you could have attacked. And if you had surrendered, I could have killed you all."

My wand was still raised, and I was now gaping stupidly at him. I lowered the bit of wood quickly, hoping that Sasuke and Naruto didn't think I was too crazy to be threatening the teacher with it. But they weren't even looking at me.

"You will be risking your lives here," he said, walking away now. "Look at this. Look at the names carved here on this stone. They are recognized as the heroes of the village. But...they aren't just normal heroes. They are all heroes who died while on duty. My best friend's name is here..."

Kakashi looked old, and it had nothing to do with his silvery hair. He slumped a little, as though there were a heavy weight pulling him down. I wondered if Kakashi's friend had been on his team, and what sort of teamwork Kakashi wished he'd done.

Then Kakashi left us with the promise of one more chance, the threat of failing if we fed Naruto, and our lunch.

So this whole time, the answer had been teamwork. It didn't matter what we did as long as we worked together? As I looked over at my two teammates, I wondered what would have happened if they had been Harry and Ron instead. I knew my friends and they knew me, and no stupid bell test would have been able to tear us apart. We would have found a way to make it work. Even if we hadn't, even if Kakashi hadn't been lying, I would have been willing to go back to the Academy if it meant my two best friends were able to move forward.

But Sasuke was not Harry and Naruto was not Ron.

I took one bite of my lunch without tasting it. If I'd been with Harry and Ron... I stopped. I couldn't think like that anymore. Sasuke and Naruto were my teammates. No matter who I saw in them, no matter if I even liked them, they were my friends now, and I had to think about them as though they were the two people I already knew I would risk life and limb for. It didn't matter what I would have done in the past. What mattered now was what I could do in the future.

So, if it was Ron tied to the stump beside me now, if it was Harry who sat on his other side, what would I do then? If it was them?

Maybe Sasuke had a similar train of thought, because he reached out with his lunch and held it in front of Naruto.

"Without food, you'll just be in the way," he said quietly. Naruto looked stunned, but happy too.

Ron had always given me a hard time about following the rules. But there were more important things, as I'd told Harry once. Friendship and bravery.

"You're our teammate," I said, and I held out my lunch too. "We're in this together, right?"

Naruto's smile softened, and his eyes glistened conspicuously. I pretended not to notice.

"Hehehe, thanks," he said, and for once his voice wasn't loud or annoying.

I lifted up my chopsticks because his hands were still tied, but a loud bang and a huge cloud of smoke exploded right in front of us. I dropped my lunch and reeled back, not even thinking to grab my wand. Sasuke was already in a defensive crouch. I wanted to run back, to increase the distance between me and whatever was in the smoke, but Naruto was still tied to the stump. He couldn't get away or defend himself.

I couldn't just leave him behind. And then Kakashi appeared, his one eye livid, and his voice even more menacing than Fluffy's worst growls.

"You guys..." He snarled. My heart was trying to burst out of my throat. Naruto screamed. "Pass."

The threatening aura was dropped so suddenly, I could only stare with total incomprehension at his crinkly eye-smile.

"Huh?" I said, firmly displaying my usual brilliance. I realized I would have to articulate myself a bit more clearly. "Pass? But why?"

"Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are trash," he said, and I nodded, because that was pretty much my way of life at Hogwarts. "But you know what? Those who don't take care of their comrades...are worse than trash."

As his words sunk in, I wondered for a minute what might have happened if I'd never gone to school, and if I'd never met my friends. I'd spent so much of my time and energy slavishly believing in the first half of what he'd said that the second part had never even occurred to me until I'd had comrades of my own to worry about. But it had come to me eventually. It came on the day that Harry and Ron risked their lives to save me from a mountain troll. That was the very first time I'd willfully broken the rules. Because Kakashi was right. Not helping them would have made me worse than trash.

I felt a new wave of respect for my sensei as he told us that our duties would begin for real tomorrow. As Sasuke got up, I untied Naruto, and we left the field together for the first time as Team 7.

…

Note: Ah, the bell test. I've introduced some more information about magical combat in here. Realistically, Sakura had no chance against Kakashi, but the next chapter should include a lot more magical fun and fighting.


	4. Magic and Muggles

…

I quickly realized that not all D-rank missions are as intellectually stimulating as my long-term reconnaissance mission to Hogwarts. In fact, most of them were the sorts of things students had to do when they were being punished in detention. The only plus side was that unlike with detention, I was allowed to use magic.

The first time the three of us took a look at the filthy bathroom we were supposed to clean, the boys were extremely vocal about their objections. Even Sasuke complained with more than his usual glare. But their objections ceased instantly when I pulled out my wand and with a well-placed "Scourgify!" left the whole room gleaming and immaculate. I smiled at them as Naruto's jaw dropped and Sasuke stared at me with wide-eyed surprise.

"What? What?" Naruto shouted, running inside and examining the toilets as though he'd never seen one before. Well, maybe he'd never seen a clean one before. He did live alone, after all. And he was a boy. "How did you do that?"

They both turned to me. Kakashi's eye was crinkled in a smile again, and I shifted in embarrassment. So, maybe this wasn't the way I wanted to showcase my special ability to my two teammates, but I hadn't gotten the chance the previous day.

"It's a kind of blood-limit," I said. It wasn't really, but I doubted Naruto would be able to understand the complicated explanations from my school books. "I have a certain type of power that I control with my wand."

I gestured with my wand, and it dutifully shot out a few sparks for effect.

Sasuke's eyes locked onto the seemingly innocuous bit of wood and he frowned.

"You've got a blood-limit for cleaning things?" Naruto asked incredulously. "Hey, hey, do you think you could come over to my place and clean my room?"

Sasuke snorted.

"Useless," he said. I wasn't sure if he was talking about Naruto or my magic. I glared at him either way.

"It's not a cleaning blood-limit," I growled. "It's a sort of power that can bend reality and reshape it how I want. I use magic, which is like chakra. The words are like the words we use to activate jutsu, and the wand movements are like the hand seals used for ninjutsu and genjutsu. Each spell is like a different jutsu. Scourgify is a cleaning spell. But there are also hexes and curses and charms and transfiguration spells..."

I trailed off because Naruto was looking lost. How many times had I seen that exact expression on Ron's face while I tried to explain our homework? Too many times to recall. I almost smiled.

"What an interesting ability," said Kakashi, feigning curiosity. I had no doubts that the Hokage had informed him of my abilities well in advance, but I decided to let it slide. "Maybe when we're training later, you can show us a bit more."

"Sure," I said. "So, what is our next mission?"

...

Naruto pestered me for the rest of the day about my magical abilities. It felt nice to show off to someone who knew less about the magical world than I did. Well, there was always Harry, but he tended to know about as much as I did and even a bit more in some cases.

So I told my team about witches and wizards and their society. Sasuke even asked a few questions about the witch burnings that had caused them to become so paranoid and secretive.

"So, they were afraid of these muggles?" he asked. "I don't see why the Hokage thinks these wizards might be dangerous if they're terrified of civilians."

"They knew that if they stayed in the open, both sides would have been destroyed," I snapped. "Wizards might be more powerful, but there aren't very many of them compared to the muggles. And you shouldn't act like its such a bad thing to avoid conflict. The whole society decided together that isolating themselves would be better for the whole world, even if they could have hurt the people who were trying to kill them. There were a lot of atrocities on both sides before the wizards decided to leave. But they did leave, even though it meant accepting their losses and hiding away. I think it was very noble of them."

Sasuke merely scowled.

"Running away crying isn't noble," he said.

"So what about that Dark Lord person you were talking about?" Naruto interrupted eagerly. "Voldywhatsit. Sounds dangerous."

I laughed in spite of myself. It was difficult to fear something when the blond-haired blue eyed goofball was talking about it with such a cheerful expression. And Sasuke was marching on ahead, so I guessed that conversation was over with anyway. I gave a pretty brief summary of my two near-encounters with the dark wizard. True, I hadn't actually met him face-to-face, a fact I was distinctly grateful for, but I was involved enough to give all the best details.

My stories and explanations carried us through four D-ranked missions, three of which were cleaning, and the fourth was repairing a broken sign. A quick "Repairo" was all that took. And then we were done for the day. It felt weird to complete so many missions in so little time. It actually took longer to walk between the missions than it took to actually do them. I was so used to thinking of missions as being long and involved matters of the utmost secrecy that it was hard to even think of these as being in the same league. And they weren't, I decided as I walked back home in early dusk.

I'd long since waved goodbye to my teammates and sensei. It was a good thing the Ministry didn't have any sort of magic-awareness spells around Konoha that would prevent me from using magic over the summer. Still, I didn't come here to do magic and clean toilets. I didn't plan on doing D-ranked missions like this for my whole life. I needed to learn how to fight so that I could protect Harry and Ron when they inevitably found themselves in trouble again. I needed to be a better Konoha ninja, and using cleaning spells wouldn't help me with that.

Thankfully, Kakashi had told us that we would be doing some teamwork training tomorrow, and they were all eager to see what my magic could do. I spent the night pouring over my notes and practicing basic offensive and defensive spells. I was starting to feel annoyed with my ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers for not at least preparing me well for what was sure to be a challenging day tomorrow.

I knew I wouldn't last five second against Kakashi. Sasuke was almost as bad because of his ninjutsu and total willingness to use lethal force. Even Naruto would be nearly impossible if he was able to use Shadow Clone. There was no way I'd be able to fire off spells quickly enough to take them all down if I didn't manage to get to him first. So, I'd have to focus on keeping them far enough away to dodge their attacks, but still keep them close enough to hex them if they attacked.

I chewed my lip as I practiced a silencing charm before I realized I was being stupid. There was no reason to use a wide variety of spells if one did the job just as well. In Sasuke's and Kakashi's case, all I had to do was hit them with petrificus totalus, and the fight would be over.

Naruto would be different. I needed and area-affect spell to deal with all of his clones, something that had a much broader range. There was always a blasting curse, which could blow apart whole city streets if the user was strong enough, but that had a very serious chance of killing him if he decided to run around with his clones, which I knew he would. Besides, I still wasn't strong enough to get a blast radius of more than five feet.

Another option was the disarming curse, which had a slightly broader range than most spells and which could knock some of his clones back. It might be powerful enough to dispel the clones, but I wouldn't know for sure until I tested it. If it did just disarm them, that wouldn't mean much. When Naruto lost a kunai, he'd just grab another one. The disarming charm might have been a great weapon against wizards, but it was pointless against a shinobi.

I was still turning the situation over in my mind the next morning when I met my team on a small red bridge. Naruto waved enthusiastically, and Sasuke gave me a curt nod. We waited for our tardy sensei in silence as I reread the notes I'd already memorized. Even if I knew he wasn't going to show up any time soon, there was no reason that I had to be late as well. Just because he was unreasonable when it came to punctuality didn't mean I intended to pick up the habit. I thought briefly about what Harry and Ron would say if I came back to school and showed up late for everything. They'd probably think it was funny.

"Hey, hey, what are you smiling about, Sakura-chan?"Naruto asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking about my friends at school," I said. "You two kind of remind me of them."

"Really?" Naruto asked eagerly. "I'm the brave hero, right? Right, Sakura-chan?"

"Not exactly," I said, grinning back at him as I sat down and let my feet dangle over the edge. "You're more of the funny, bumbling side-kick type."

Naruto pouted and glared at Sasuke, who was ignoring us with practiced ease.

"Hey, will you show us some more of your spell things?" Naruto asked, plopping down beside me. At this, Sasuke looked up, though he was clearly trying not to seem too intrigued.

I smiled.

It was kind of nice to have an audience that could appreciate my abilities, even if I knew I'd be in all kinds of trouble if anyone at school ever found out I'd told a muggle. Not that I really considered Sasuke and Naruto to be muggles. Chakra was different from magic, but ninja were still a long way from the people who had tried to kill off all of the witches and wizards so many centuries ago. And even if the Ministry had a problem with me telling the Hokage and my team about my powers, well, my first loyalty was to Konoha anyway.

"I suppose I could show you something before we start training if you really want me to," I said. Encouraged by Naruto's eager nod and gleaming smile, I continued. "How about I show you how to make objects fly?"

Naruto's eyebrows disappeared behind his forehead protector, and Sasuke turned to look at us both fully. I pulled out my wand and pointed it at a stack of logs laying against a nearby building.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" I said, and all six logs rose in unison ten feet into the air.

"Wow, Sakura-chan, that's amazing!" Naruto shouted. "Hey, do you think you could make me fly too?"

He looked so hopeful that I didn't have the heart to tell him no.

"I can cast the spell on you," I said, lowering my wand and allowing the six logs to drift back to the ground. "But I'm the one who controls it, so you wouldn't be able to choose where to go. Do you want to try?"

He did, so I spent the next twenty minutes sitting cross-legged on the bridge and waving my arm in long swishes and loops as Naruto screamed in glee and shouted directions about where he wanted to fly next. Maybe one scream was in fear as I swept him through the branches of a tree, but he didn't hit anything, so he merely shouting "Yahoo! Yeah! Over that tree! Woah!"

We also attracted attention from several people, some civilians, a chunin ninja, and one ANBU, who crouched silently for a moment before leaving soundlessly. While my abilities weren't exactly secret, they weren't well known either, and I wondered briefly what he would tell the Hokage. By the time I let Naruto down, his whole face seemed dedicated to his wide grin.

"Hey, why did you stop?" he asked, bouncing around on the balls of his feet. "That was awesome!"

"My arm is getting tired," I admitted. "Besides, we should be resting up since we'll be training today whenever Kakashi-sensei decides to show up."

Sasuke snorted, and went back to glaring at random objects.

We all sat and relaxed together with Naruto occasionally commenting loudly about some unimportant thing or trying to catch a fish in the stream. I tried to involve Sasuke in conversation once, but his monosyllabic responses made chatting with him almost as bad as talking to a rock. I wondered how long it would take someone to notice if I put a silencing charm on him.

Not that that's something I would ever do. But the Weasley twins would. Then I'd have to scold them and threaten them with Mrs. Weasley.

It took three hours, but eventually our sensei decided to show up.

"Yo" he said, appearing in a poof of smoke. "Sorry I'm late. I got lost on the road of life."

"Liar!" Naruto and I shouted together. Really, a teacher should be more responsible. And punctual.

"Now let's head over to training ground 3," he said, gesturing for us to follow as he walked away.

"Hey, sensei, are you going to show us some cool new moves?" Naruto asked. "Huh? Huh?"

"No, today will be dedicated to team training," said Kakashi. "You three will be fighting against each other."

Naruto turned to shoot a devious grin at Sasuke. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

Training ground 3 turned out to be a large open field with a smooth, gentle slope and no cover to speak of. This was good for me, as it meant my teammates wouldn't have anything to hide behind, but it left me out in the open as well.

"Alright, so today you'll be playing a game I like to call Tag-team," said Kakashi. "When I shout out a name, that person becomes the enemy of the other two. So if I shout 'Sasuke' then Naruto and Sakura attack him together, and Sasuke attacks both of them. The purpose of this training is to learn to work together against single enemies and alone against multiple enemies. Also, there may be times when you need to reevaluate who your allies are in a fight. Now, you have thirty seconds to get wherever you want to be on the field. When I shout out the first name, that's when you begin. Now, go!"

I pulled out my wand and darted away, trying to put some space between myself and the other two as but keeping them both in sight and range. That wasn't difficult considering that we all had a clear field of view for several hundred yards in all directions. Sasuke immediately went to the higher ground at the far end of the field, and Naruto darted off to my left. I wondered if he even realized that he should have been focusing on getting close to us, since he was at a disadvantage in ranged combat.

Probably not.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi shouted.

Sasuke was about thirty five feet away, which was out of my range, but he had already thrown a barrage of shuriken in my direction, and I had no choice but to jump back. I quickly added a deflection spell to the list of things I'd need to learn.

Naruto produced ten clones, which were all charging Sasuke head on with kunai in hand. A full frontal assault on Sasuke was about the stupidest thing he could have tried, but Naruto wasn't known for his wide variety of attack patterns. Besides, if it gave me an opening, that was enough.

While Sasuke was busy dispatching Naruto's clones, I darted forward until I was about eighteen feet away. Sasuke was punching and stabbing his way through the crowd of orange-clad ninja, when his kunai cut one on his cheek, and it didn't disappear. Sasuke's full attention shifted to the real blond.

"Petrificus totalus!" I hissed, trying not to alert him to my spell.

But he must have been paying closer attention than I thought, because he back-flipped over the real Naruto and almost managed to escape, but the spell caught his heel. Sasuke's arms and legs snapped together. He fell with a dull thud into the grass and Naruto was left staring at him uncomprehendingly.

"Huh?" he said. "What the..."

"Naruto!" Kakashi shouted.

It was just my luck that Sasuke had managed to dispel all but two of Naruto's clones and that the real one had been revealed.

"Petrificus totalus!" I shouted, this time not worrying about revealing myself. Naruto was instantly caught in the same body-bind as Sasuke. At that point, the fight was over. The two remaining clones tried to charge me, but because there were only two I managed to catch both of them before they came too close.

"Well now, that is a useful jutsu," said Kakashi as he ambled over to the other two. "Maybe you should revive them so we can continue?"

"Oh, right," I said. I walked over to the pair and said "Reenervate!"

They were close enough together that the same spell caught them both. Naruto was looking at me with shock and a little awe. Sasuke's face was carefully neutral.

"Well, well, now that the two of you have a better idea of your teammate's abilities, maybe we should try this again?" he asked.

Sasuke and Naruto nodded together, and when they glanced at each other and shared a small smile, I knew I was in trouble.

From that point forward, I was effectively useless. Sasuke was able to calculate my spell range after being hit a second time, and he never let me get close enough again. Naruto on the other hand, merely poofed thirty or forty clones into existence, and I had no hope of catching them all. I discovered that a suitably powerful disarming curse was enough to dispel them, and a small blasting curse could do the same without hurting the real Naruto seriously, but even then, Naruto closed in long before I could find and neutralize him.

It was actually kind of pathetic how weak I was at close range. Naruto would never hit me seriously, and I was a little grateful for that, but it also stung to know he wouldn't go all-out with me the way he did with Sasuke. Once I'd lost the element of surprise, I was too weak to be considered a threat.

We sparred like this for an hour before breaking for lunch with instructions to work on individual stamina training during the afternoon. Kakashi disappeared when Naruto told him he should buy us food, and somehow that didn't surprise me.

By now I was covered in dirt and loose grass with my hair in disarray and dozens of cuts, scrapes, and bruises from where Naruto had knocked me down or Sasuke's shuriken had nicked me. I was still breathing hard when Naruto ran over to me.

"Hey, Sakura-chan!" Naruto shouted. "Let's eat lunch together! Just you and me."

Sasuke had already disappeared, and I didn't think I could handle the hyperactive blond by myself right now.

"No thanks, Naruto," I said wearily. "Kakashi-sensei assigned me two hours of running. I need to rest up a bit for this afternoon."

"Only two hours?" Naruto asked. "Man, Kakashi-sensei let you off easy. I've got four hours of rock climbing to do."

Easy? Two hours of intense physical exercise would be brutal for me. I was used to spending long hours pouring over books, not running or lifting weights. Usually it was Ron who was complaining about the heavy workload from the teachers and me telling him that it wasn't really _that _difficult. Oh, how the tables had turned.

"Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow for our next mission," I said, waving goodbye with a half-hearted smile.

I needed to do some serious planning. My magic might be great for catching enemies unaware, but if I ever had to face the same opponent twice, or if they somehow knew of my abilities beforehand, then I was easy prey for just about anyone with good speed or ranged attacks.

I trudged home feeling much heavier than I had that morning, but I straightened my shoulders anyway. If I didn't need help, then I wouldn't have needed a sensei. I'd just have to ask Kakashi what he thought. I was sure the white haired Jonin would know what I needed to do. And even if he didn't...well that was what books were for.

...


	5. Training

…

Our next few missions involved things that I couldn't really use my magic on. A few were babysitting young children(No Naruto, I'm not petrifying them), and others involved delivering messages (No Naruto, I'm not flying you halfway across Konoha) or carrying heavy objects for cranky old ladies (No Naruto, I'm not going to put a silencing charm on them). Kakashi insisted that the boys do this work because they needed to earn their pay too.

So I spent most of the next few days hanging back and trying to pin down Kakashi long enough to have an actual conversation. He had this strange habit of disappearing whenever I wanted to talk to him and reappearing in hard-to-reach places like the tops of telephone poles, in trees, and on roof tops. He never gave any satisfactory explanation for this, but I thought it must be because he wanted to read his weird orange book.

I finally managed to corner him three days later during a training session. I was taking a much needed break while the boys continued to fight. Naruto might have made a small army of clones and was running around like a maniac, but he still had a seemingly endless supply of chakra and energy. Sasuke on the other hand, was simply a master of controlling his body, making no unnecessary movements and wearing his opponent out with small but effective attacks. Thus I ran out of steam long before either of them was even winded.

"Kakashi-sensei," I panted, snagging the sleeve of his jacket before he could dart away. I was a bit surprised that he allowed it this time. I took a second to compose myself, though I still didn't let his sleeve go for fear that he would run off again. "I need your advice on how to fight more effectively with my magic. You can see that it wasn't much better today than it was before. I haven't even been able to hit Naruto all day, and Sasuke won't let me get close enough to attack. Is there anything I can do?"

I was half expecting him to shrug and tell me to train harder, but Kakashi ran his free hand through his hair and looked down at me.

"Hmm, well normally we like to encourage our students to find what works best for them rather than molding them personally," he said. "But I suppose a few hints wouldn't hurt. Alright, what is the range of your attacks?"

"Twenty feet," I said instantly.

"Is that a fixed number, or can you extend it with training?" He asked.

"Magical strength is tied to age, talent, and training," I explained, letting him go because I was pretty sure he would stick around...for now. "My magic will naturally become stronger as I get older. My talent was determined at birth. And I already train at the optimal level for increasing my abilities. By my calculations, I can gain approximately three inches per week, though the rate of growth will accelerate when I become a teenager and will start to drop off after I turn thirty or so."

"Do you think your rate of growth will be good enough to catch an enemy unaware?" he asked.

"No." I wasn't sure what else I could add to that.

"Alright, then working with magic exclusively wouldn't be such a good idea, would it?" he asked.

"Are you saying that I should try using ninjutsu as well?" I asked. Then I felt stupid. "Oh! I could use kawarimi no jutsu to replace myself with something closer to Sasuke, or I could do what you did in the bell test and replace myself with one of Naruto's clones and use henge to hide or something."

Kakashi was giving me a happy eye smile.

"See, there's nothing there that you didn't already know," he said. "You're the smartest kunoichi that the Academy has produced in a while. Have more faith in your own intelligence."

I blushed a bit. It was the first time Kakashi had actually complimented me, but I also felt a little foolish for not thinking of it before. I had become so focused on thinking like a witch that it was hard to remember some of the other skills I'd learned. I'd just decided during the bell test that my ninja skills weren't going to be effective, and so I'd ignored them. Now that I thought of it, I hadn't even used kawarimi or henge in almost a year.

I knew that my ninja skills were not the best. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of my team, and so I ended up relying exclusively on the one ability that set me apart rather than improving the skills that were lacking.

"Sakura, there is one more thing I want to warn you about," said Kakashi.

"Yes, sensei?" I asked.

"A ninja is usually only as good as the tools they use to get the job done," he said, his eye now very serious. "Those tools can be their weapons, their body, or their chakra. Your tool is your wand. It is very effective at what it does, but ultimately, it is a very small, very brittle piece of wood. If it were broken, would you be able to make another one?"

"No," I said nervously. "There are special wizards who make and sell wands. And the wands themselves are quasi-sentient. Mr. Olivander, the wizard who made my wand, told me that the wand chooses the wizard. Even if I could make a wand, there is no guarantee that it would choose me."

"And you can't perform magic without your wand," he said.

It wasn't a question, but I answered him anyway.

"I can perform wandless magic when I am in a heightened emotional state," I said. "However, I can't cast spells or control the magic to any great extent."

Kakashi nodded.

"Time Out!" Kakashi shouted across the field. "Sasuke, take a break. Naruto, to me."

They stopped immediately. Sasuke slouched off to sit under a tree at the edge of the field. Naruto bounded toward us. I wondered what Kakashi was planning now. I had a sinking feeling that it involved scaring magic out of me.

"What is it, sensei?" Naruto asked.

"I'm going to work with you and Sakura on taijutsu training," he said.

"What really?" Naruto asked excitedly. "Hey, that's great! Right, Sakura-chan!"

I was so relieved that it didn't involve whatever horrors I was sure Kakashi could think up that I merely nodded. We spent the next four hours reviewing basic stances and choreographed movements. I also sparred with Naruto three times, him without his shadow clones, and me without my magic. Naruto's form was sloppy, but he more than compensated with his enthusiasm, strength, and ability to shrug off pretty much every hit I could land.

Kakashi occasionally left us alone to check on Sasuke, who was practicing fire jutsu by the lake. By the end of the day I was flat on my back with muscles like jelly and stabbing pains coming from every part of my body. I saw Kakashi and Sasuke walking over, so I rolled into a painful sitting position.

"From now on Sakura, I want you to practice kata for at least an hour every morning," Kakashi said. "I can tell from today's training that your strength, speed, and taijutsu are below average. If you get into a fight and do not manage to surprise your enemy, it is doubtful that you will survive the encounter."

I nodded mutely. I knew this already even if I didn't want to hear it spoken aloud by my sensei.

"Don't worry," he said. "You're not hopeless. But I want you to focus on bringing your taijutsu up to a solid Genin level before you worry about incorporating your magic into a fight."

That made sense. It was what I had wanted in the first place even if I was too ashamed to admit it. But Naruto had sparred with me for hours, and he'd never made fun of me or called me weak. And if Sasuke thought I was beneath him, well, he seemed to think that way about everyone. It wasn't something for me to worry about.

"Alright, sensei," I said with a smile. "I'm here because I want to be stronger. If that's what it takes, then I'll do it."

"That's good to hear," he said. "That's enough for today. I'll see you all tomorrow."

And he poofed away, leaving us in a cloud of smoke.

…

I still didn't know whether or not I would be attending school next year, but that didn't stop me from starting on all the homework my teachers had assigned over the summer holidays. There were three books to read, seven essays ranging from five to nine rolls of parchment, and a proposal for a theoretical potions synthesis to keep me busy between missions and training.

It was at the end of the second week of the holidays when I received my first letter from Ron. Errol, the Weasley family owl, swooped into my room just before dawn and face-planted right onto my bed. I was more than a little surprised to find that Errol had managed to not only get through the portal connecting our worlds, but had also managed to find his way here considering that my magical alias was completely secret and that I looked almost nothing like my magical counterpart. I had just finished getting dressed, so I walked over to him to see if he was alright.

He was out cold.

I folded his wings gently to his side and arranged him so that he could sleep comfortably on the blankets and then reached for Ron's letter. It had _Hermione _written on it in an untidy scrawl.

I tore open the letter to read.

_Dear Hermione,_

_I hope you're having fun down in France with your family. Can you believe the amount of homework Snape assigned? Git._

_Anyway, I wanted to warn you not to call Harry this summer. I tried and his uncle answered the telephone. I think I got Harry into a lot of trouble. Those muggles don't seem to like magic or wizards very much._

_I think I'm going to ask Harry to come over for the summer. Mum says its okay, and if you decide France is boring, you're welcome to come too. If not, we'll be in Diagon Alley during the last week of the holidays to pick up our school books, so we might see you then._

_Ron_

I winced when I read about Harry's uncle's reaction, but the fact that Ron was going to invite him over for the summer mollified me a bit. I didn't know very much about Harry's family, but I suspected that they weren't fond of either Harry or wizards in general. There wasn't much I could do for him here. The few telephone lines in Konoha didn't connect to the muggle world, and I didn't have my own owl to send letters with. I'd have to wait for Harry to send me a letter before I could reply with anything meaningful. I didn't like feeling so helpless. Well, if I couldn't talk to Harry directly yet, I could still try a secondary route.

I took out an unused roll of parchment, ink, and a quill and set down to write my response.

_Dear Ron,_

_I hope Harry is okay. Send him a letter to make sure nothing happened, and try to arrange a time to talk to him when his aunt and uncle aren't home. I haven't had a chance to call him yet, but I suppose now it wouldn't be such a idea._

_I'm having loads of fun here in France. I've only been here two weeks and I'm learning so much. I've even made a few friends with the locals. One of them is just like you and the twins. Thanks for the invitation, but I think I'll see you again at the end of the holidays right before we go to school._

I stopped then and bit my lip. If the Hokage didn't give me permission to return to school, what would happen then? Ron and Harry would be worried. Dumbledore and McGonagall would probably contact the Ministry about finding me. I glanced over at Errol, suddenly worried. If an owl could find me here, what was to stop a trained Ministry wizard?

I wouldn't be able to just disappear. That would have been cruel. I needed to concoct a reasonable explanation for my departure. I knew that ANBU would take the simple route and just arrange for my 'death.' They could make very realistic bodies, ones which even magic couldn't identify as false.

What would they say when they found out?

_The homework for this summer isn't that bad. Just don't leave everything until the last minute. I know you can handle it because I've seen your work. You're really smart when you put your mind to it_ _and after everything we've done, a little reading and writing should be fine. And if you still need help, you know I'll always be there to give you a hand._

I stopped again. I obviously couldn't tell him outright all the things I wanted to say. Ron might not have been the most observant person, but he wasn't stupid either. As much as I wanted to tell him about following rules and protecting his friends and being brave and noble and a good person, I just couldn't do it in the context of a simple letter without making it sound like I knew something terrible was about to happen to me. I sighed.

_I'm so busy, I might be out of reach for a while, but don't worry. I'll definitely be in Diagon Alley right before the start of term. I'll see you then._

_Hermione_

It was too short.

There wasn't enough of what I wanted to say. But despite the fact that it was far too simple and barely covered the basics, I had spent too much time on it already. The sun had fully risen by now. I needed to start on my kata before going down to meet my team. I finished arranging my shuriken in my thigh holster and I left out a bowl of water and a few strips of jerky for Eroll when he woke. Last, I tied the letter to Eroll's leg as he still lay asleep, and I slipped out of the room.

Eroll would take my letter back to Ron when he woke.

I hoped that Ron would get the letter soon and that Harry was alright. But even more than that, I hoped I wasn't a liar.

...

Just when I had decided that I had no life outside being a kunoichi, ANBU decided it was time for a demonstration of my new skills. While the rest of my team was off doing more new missions, I was left standing in a dark room with half a dozen diagnostic jutsu running around me. There was a large seal on the floor that spiraled out twenty feet with eight ANBU sitting evenly spaced around the circle and three more standing silently in the shadows. There were only a few candles and torches to light the space, so I had to squint as I walked into the center of the circle.

"Begin with the disarming charm," said the gruff voice of one of the shadowed ANBU. I could vaguely make out a white rat mask with green markings. "When I tell you to start, fire three consecutive spells. First aim at straight ahead at the wall, then at the practice dummy, and finally at Salamander."

The Salamander masked ANBU gave me a small wave from where he stood leaning against a life-size wooden practice dummy.

"Boar, are the readings stable?" asked Rat.

"Chakra stable at 97%," said Boar. "Baseline fluctuation patterns have been recorded. Energy recovery linear at 0.5% per minute. All diagnostic seals active and receiving. Ready when you are, Captain."

I drew out my wand and shifted into a more stable fighting stance.

"Start," said Rat.

I aimed my wand at the empty air and shouted "Expelliarmus!"

Predictably, with nothing to hit there was no visible reaction. I switched to the practice dummy and repeated the spell. The dummy flew back ten feet to smash into the wall, the dull kunai laying in its hand suddenly flung upward. I tried to keep track of it even as I turned to Salamander and shouted the spell for the third time. Salamander was thrown back, his own practice kunai also flung upward. I looked over in time to see a rabbit-masked ANBU use body-flicker to dart around the room and catch both kunai before they could hit anyone. Salamander was already back in his previous place looking none the worse for wear.

"Chakra still stable at 97%," said Boar. "Fluctuation patterns were briefly spiked at the release of the spell. Energy recovery dipped to 0.4%, but recovered to previous levels within 0.7 seconds. The main chakra detection seals coming up negative. The splitter and amplifier loops are recording only atmospheric interference. Alpha and Beta energy lines stable. Theta energy lines were noticeably elevated during casting with logarithmic decay upon release. No significant variations between spells."

"Is the Theta energy pattern clear and distinguishable?" asked Rat.

"Yes," said Boar. "It's energy pattern is similar to other attack spells. We should be able to isolate the offensive spell baseline template and have the seal reference it for future use."

"Good," said Rat. "Haruno-san, repeat the three spell pattern, but this time cast them all at empty air and vary the strength of the spell. Start strong and end weak."

It went on for hours.

I might have regretted not having the end of year exams to practice with, but Rat ran me through every spell at least a dozen times while the others identified the underlying energy signatures that defined each of them. We took a break for lunch as my stamina began to drop from standing and casting all morning, and when we returned that afternoon, I was made to repeat all of my first year spells so that they could compare results.

The next few days were dedicated to clarifying information found in my books, essays, and notes. The main problem with this was that everything I had was in English and not all of it translated very well. ANBU had some very skilled translators, but even they wanted to make sure the description of the Bat Bogey hex was correct.

Then they had me practice all of the spells I'd written about but hadn't been taught yet. I had very good success for all of the third year spells and many of the fourth year spells after a few days of practice, but beyond that my abilities dropped off rather rapidly.

I was only partially surprised by my rapid progress. On the one hand, two weeks was practically nothing when learning new spells, and I'd mastered over a year's worth of new material in that time. On the other hand, there's nothing more terrifying than a masked ANBU who doesn't take any sissy excuses for a lack of results. With that kind of motivation glaring at me while I waved my wand, it was a wonder that I'd made it through training at all.

It took more than two weeks, but they were finally done with me.

Still, by the end I was very glad that I could essentially coast my way through all my classes next year and try to focus on ninja training in my spare time if I wanted to. I had no doubt that if I came back at the end of third year and hadn't improved that Naruto and Sasuke would be on a whole other level from me. As it was now, I had a faint chance of keeping up with them if I worked at it, but that meant dedicating a large portion of my time to training every day.

I was also glad to have another attack spell added to my arsenal. The stunning spell was still a little difficult to handle and gave off a very obvious flash of red light, but I could think of several situations in which I would rather have the victim unconscious rather than frozen and aware. There was also the downside that it was clearly not as powerful as the petrifying spell because it only rendered the victim unconscious for about two minutes. I suspected that the spell would grow stronger as I became older and more powerful, but right now it wasn't something I was willing to rely on.

The last thing the ANBU did before sending me on my way was to take the remainder of the polyjuice potion for testing. I'd made more than enough, knowing that ANBU would want the largest possible sample, and so there were a total of 10 doses left.

After my previous experience with it, I should have been happy to see it go, but unbeknown to them, I only gave them five samples and I kept the rest hidden for myself. Why did I do this? Partially because I didn't know when I might need to be someone else, but mostly because I'd gone through too much trouble to make it just to hand it all over to someone else.

All in all, I was rather happy to return to my team. Naruto was as enthusiastic as ever, and even Sasuke seemed relieved. When I asked Kakashi about their last few missions, he told me that they had all been particularly smelly.

I decided then that I didn't want to know more than that.

...


End file.
